1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sensor module. More specifically, the present invention relates to an inverted sensor module for use in a fluid vessel in a living body.
2. Related Art
In the medical field, and particularly in the field of medical research, sensors greatly aid in the evaluation of performance and fluid characteristics of vessels in a living body. Sensors are used to determine characteristics such as fluid pressure, temperature, O2, CO2, sugar levels, and/or pH in blood vessels, lymph vessels, ureters, intestines, and chambers of the heart. Medical personnel use this information to evaluate the overall health of a person, and medical researchers use this information to aid in the evaluation of new drugs or procedures.
Typically, sensors are mounted on a catheter for insertion into the vessel. Several patents describe the use of sensors mounted on catheters. However, the use of prior art catheters is not always possible due to the size of the vessel to be monitored in comparison with the catheter. For example, researchers studying cardiac performance in small animals such as mice may encounter blood vessels less than 1 mm in diameter. In these applications, it may not be possible, using prior art sensors, to be able to accurately monitor the cardiac performance directly. In particular, the size of the catheter may be so large that insertion into a blood vessel may block the blood vessel, impair cardiac performance, prevent accurate measurements and cause injury to the subject. It is therefore desirable to provide an improved method and sensor apparatus for detecting and measuring various fluid characteristics in vessels in a living body. It is further desirable to provide a sensor apparatus capable of being used in small vessels.